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Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund donates $20,000 to CMHA Thunder Bay

January 11, 2017

Investment helps strengthen CMHA’s community impact

The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Thunder Bay is pleased to receive a $20,000 grant from the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund to support a new training program to further entrench itself as a local agency that is delivering a positive impact in the community.

The CMHA Thunder Bay Branch strives to be courageous, innovative, forward-thinking and creative in the way it operates and approaches service delivery for clients. A large part of achieving this philosophy is to engage employees in continuous learning and development which supports creativity in service delivery.

With a $20,000 grant from the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund, the branch can proceed with implementation of a cutting-edge training approach for staff known as Coaching Out of the Box.

The training aims to create a coaching culture to help staff maximize their own personal and professional capability and focus work with clients on goal setting, outcome creation and personal change management. It also is equipping staff to become better leaders and managers within the organization and in this field, and create more positive and meaningful relationships with clients.
These are all valued skills by CMHA Thunder Bay, which is committed to supporting individual recovery and promoting mental wellness within families and communities.

“We can’t thank Bell Let’s Talk enough for its commitment to strengthening the impact of our branch with support for new training for our staff,” said Sharon Pitawanakwat, CEO, CMHA Thunder Bay. “We value a client-centred approach, excellence, innovation and creativity and have a commitment to recovery. We want every client who interacts with us to have a similar and empowering experience. Having our staff take the Coaching Out of the Box program will ensure that happens.”

“Bell Let’s Talk is very pleased to support the Canadian Mental Health Association, Thunder Bay Branch in strengthening its capacity in the community through the Coaching Out of the Box program, helping its staff provide more and better mental health services for individuals and families,” said Mary Deacon, chair of Bell Let’s Talk. “The 2016 Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund provided grants to more than 70 organizations helping people living with a mental illness in every region of the country.”

Bell Let’s Talk Day is January 25

On January 25, for every text message, mobile and long distance call made by Bell Canada and Bell Aliant customers, every tweet using #BellLetsTalk, every view of the Bell Let’s Talk Day video at Facebook.com/BellLetsTalk, every post using #BellLetsTalk on Instagram and every use of the Bell Let’s Talk Snapchat geofilter, Bell will donate five cents to support Canadian mental health programs.

Bell’s donations are made at no extra charge to Bell Let’s Talk Day participants, though normal long distance or text charges if any, apply.

About Bell Let’s Talk

The Bell Let’s Talk initiative promotes Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns like Bell Let’s Talk Day and significant Bell funding of community care and access, research, and workplace initiatives. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.